“You know what the happiest animal on Earth is? It’s a goldfish. You know why? Got a 10-second memory. Be a goldfish, Sam.” Fictional football coach Ted Lasso’s advice to one of his players – albeit scientifically disproven now – would perfectly suit South Africa’s campaign at the ICC Women’s World Cup.
On October 3rd, after Nat Sciver-Brunt won the toss and opted to bowl first at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati, South Africa played as if they had forgotten how to play cricket. Blown away for 69 all out in the 21st over. England needed just 14.1 overs to win by 10 wickets.
Cut to 26 days later, on October 29th, after Sciver-Brunt won the toss and opted to bowl first at the same venue, South Africa became a team of goldfish – captain Laura Wolvaardt alone scored 100 more than they managed that day (169 off 143 balls) with a century for the ages.
And another one of their superstars stepped up with the ball in hand to deliver a five-wicket haul as they blew England away by 125 runs. The result? South Africa’s first-ever ODI World Cup final appearance across genders.
After that chastening night in Guwahati, Wolvaardt hit a defiant note. “I think we are much, much better than 69 all out. So just one of those days. I think as a group, we just need to put it behind us as quickly as we can and move forward, because if we’re going to take that into the next game, it’s going to be a very long tournament for us.” It was such a heavy defeat that South Africa could actually see it as a blip and move on. They started with a resounding fielding effort against New Zealand, which kicked off a five-match win run – including a thrilling heist against India that truly turned things around – culminating now with the most significant ODI win in the country’s history. Yet.
In both halves of the semifinal, their star players set the tone in the first over. Off the first ball of the match, Wolvaardt pulled out the signature cover drive. High elbow, confident stride forward, perfect transfer of weight through the ball and into the gap for four.
Elated South African players after reaching Women’s World Cup 2025 final. (PHOTO: AP)
She’d pull out many more of those during the course of her innings as South Africa zoomed to 319/7, smashing 117 runs in the last 10 overs. Then in the first over of the run-chase, Kapp – who can prodigiously swing the ball away from right-handers early on in her spell – bowled the perfect wobble-seam in-dipper that cut Amy Jones in half and beat the inside edge.
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A couple of deliveries later, the classic away swinger was met with a tentative prod from Heather Knight, and just like that, England had lost two of their in-form batters without a run on the board. Kapp would finish with a five-for. They couldn’t have written a better script if they tried.
Wolvaardt classic
Coming into the match, Wolvaardt was already their team’s highest run-getter in the tournament, so the onus was on her to bring her A-Game. She had one of the best records in ODI World Cup history but hadn’t yet hit a century.
And she did that and then some, first recognising the need for her to play solid till the 40th over and then letting the firepower lower down the order take over. But when she started swinging after reaching her century, she showed there is more to her game than just textbook driving along the ground.
ENG-W VS SA-W, WOMEN’S WORLD CUP 2025 SEMIFINAL: HIGHLIGHTS
An 82m six that landed into the stands over midwicket was a perfect illustration of how she evolved her batting. From 100 off 115 balls – her first ton in World Cups on a day she registered a record-equalling 13th 50-plus score alongside Mithali Raj in this tournament – she stepped on the gas.
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Her last 69 runs came off just 28 balls. South Africa were under pressure on a couple of occasions during the bowling innings, but Kapp’s partnership with Wolvaardt, where the former eased the pressure on her captain, was critical before the final fireworks.
In the chase, Kapp’s early double-strike proved too much to recover for England. They did fight back through a solid stand between Sciver-Brunt and Alice Capsey, and it was Kapp who would provide the telling blow again.
Back into the attack in the 29th over, she got one to seam away from nearly the same spot where she bowled Jones earlier, and this time the ball caught the outside edge off Sciver-Brunt’s bat. It was the night’s most telling blow as South Africa – and Kapp overcame – the heartache of 2017 and 2022 against the same opponents.
“Kappie was phenomenal, obviously, a five-wicket haul is amazing,” Wolvaardt said in the post-match chat. “And the way that she batted as well. We still felt the pressure, still some quality batters out there. I think for as long as Nat was there, it really looked like it could go either way. Kappie was special. Throughout this tournament, she’s really sort of been finding her way with the ball and in this game, it looks like she was right back on it. She looked absolutely amazing. That first wicket she got was absolutely amazing. I think that ball will get any batter out.”
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Did that 69 all-out play on South Africa’s minds at all? “It did a little bit,” Wolvaardt said with a sheepish smile. “Same opposition, same venue. Your mind sort of automatically goes back to that game. But I think losing the toss wasn’t the worst thing in the world. We would have looked to bowl too, but yeah, it turned out pretty all right. We just thought runs on the board in the semifinals are always going to be big. I wasn’t sure if it was enough runs, pretty flat wicket at the end there. So I’m really happy our bowlers stepped up the way they did.”
With one of the most complete performances by any team in this tournament – by a team not named Australia – South Africa have deservedly taken the first spot for Sunday’s title clash. It is a fitting reward for how they have been able to bounce back from setbacks.
Brief scores: South Africa 319/7 in 50 overs (Wolvaardt 169, Brits 45; Ecclestone 4/44) beat England 194 all out in 42.3 overs (Sciver-Brunt 64, Capsey 50; Kapp 5/20).
